Part Four is dedicated to the triumph of Howard Roark. By the end of the story, Roark is in his late thirties and has endured significant hardships but now has everything he wants. His trial shows that his was the genius responsible for Cortlandt; his acquittal demonstrates recognition of his moral principles; his hiring by Enright and Wynand to build Cortlandt and the Wynand Building gives him both commercial success and fame; his marriage gives him an enduring intimate relationship with the woman he loves. How — by what means — was he able to triumph over such concerted social opposition?
The answer to this question goes to the heart of the book's meaning — to the role played by values in a man's life. A person's values are those things or persons he considers valuable, of significant worth; the things that fill his life with meaning and purpose. Roark's values are clear: He loves architecture of a certain kind — "my work done my way" — above all else. He loves his future wife, Dominique, and his dearest friend, Gail Wynand. These are of paramount importance in his life; other things are of lesser or of no value to him. One key point is that these are his values, chosen by Roark's own judgment. Unlike Keating, Roark does not go into architecture because his mother chooses it; nor does he marry Dominique because she impresses other people. Roark becomes an architect because the field fascinates him; he marries Dominique because he loves her. In Ayn Rand's revolutionary way of looking at moral issues, Howard Roark is profoundly selfish. He is a prime representative of what she calls "the virtue of selfishness."
The question regarding the sense in which selfishness is a virtue is raised at the end of Part One. Roark desperately needs the commission for the Manhattan Bank Building. Mr. Weidler fights for him, but the board keeps him waiting. Finally, they give it to Roark, but on one condition — they will alter his design. Roark refuses. The board members are incredulous; Roark is on the brink of utter destitution, yet he turns down a major commission in the heart of New York City in order to protect the integrity of his design. "Do you have to be quite so fanatical and selfless about it?" they ask. "That was the most selfish thing you've ever seen a man do," Roark responds, squeezing his drawings to his side.
